Rifle Scopes Bushnell DMR II 3.5-21 50mm
- Thread starter Hundo
- Start date
I have 2. What do you want to know?
Glass is great for the price point. Tracks very well. I really like the reticle. Good clarity and even better color. Very little chromatic aberration. Only really noticeable above 18x or in really low light. I have never noticed it during sunrise or sunset. Think midnight and looking out across a field to a porch light a few hundred yards out. So for hunting purposes it’s fine. Some of my nicer glass doesn’t do that and 99% of people won’t notice things like that in application. What we are nit picky about when being critical of glass is usually lost when in actual use.
Both of mine are used on my hunting rifles. One lives on a 16” 308. I’ve used that one out to 980 yards with that scope and have found no issues. The other one gets moved around from my SPR and my 18” 6.5 cm gas gun.
Glass is great for the price point. Tracks very well. I really like the reticle. Good clarity and even better color. Very little chromatic aberration. Only really noticeable above 18x or in really low light. I have never noticed it during sunrise or sunset. Think midnight and looking out across a field to a porch light a few hundred yards out. So for hunting purposes it’s fine. Some of my nicer glass doesn’t do that and 99% of people won’t notice things like that in application. What we are nit picky about when being critical of glass is usually lost when in actual use.
Both of mine are used on my hunting rifles. One lives on a 16” 308. I’ve used that one out to 980 yards with that scope and have found no issues. The other one gets moved around from my SPR and my 18” 6.5 cm gas gun.
I have been eye’n these for a while. Its between the DMR II Pro and the Cronus BTR. Either or is a step up from the Gen 1 Viper Pst I have been using for years. Just waiting for the right deal.
I haven’t been behind the cronus btr, but did get to test drive a DMR II-I at my range a few months ago and really liked what I saw.
I haven’t been behind the cronus btr, but did get to test drive a DMR II-I at my range a few months ago and really liked what I saw.
Personally I would skip it and get an XRS 2. Not much difference in price but MUCH better glass and better power range for similar weight.
Pretty much this.
I'd go dmr II pro. I've owned an HDMR II and my cousin has a DMR II glass is pretty good could be better for the price IMHO, CA isn't handled that well it's pretty evident. Does have better resolution and low light performance than the old ERS/XRS. Edge to edge clarity was lacking as well. Honestly since getting a PST Gen II i think it's better though these are small sample sizes of 1 with vortex and 2 scopes with Bushnell of each model. Our vortex continually impresses me for the money. The XRS II however is Gen II razor level quality as is the DMR II Pro. When i asked Bushnell if the DMR II pro was just the DMR II with XRS II glass and they said yes. So for the retail price of a DMR/HDMR II i'd be looking to the DMR II Pro, Athlon Cronus, or step up to a Mark 5 or S&B PMII ($2100 at EuroOptic right now)
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I am not sure what the allure would be specifically as a long range hunting scope. You can get something smaller, lighter, and with a better FOV that would perform just as well, for a Long Range Hunting Scope. It was not tactical enough though so LRTS.
I have the HDMR 2 and for a grand less than my ATACR I’ll buy one again before another ATACR. My experience and usage shows no benefit to spend more. But that’s my usage, yours may vary.
What drives me crazy about using tactical style scopes for hunting is the mile high elevation knob. Some scopes have lower ones, which is awesome. My Leupold Marks are too high and block my vision if I have to come off the gun to see. Like when an animal is moving out of FOV or other hunting chaos. Don't want to turkey neck in that situation.
My requirements for a hunting scope is compact size, side focus, uncapped elevation knob and at least 30mm tube. I generally don't use magnification past 10x, so huge magnification is not an issue. For me, 2.5-10 or 4.5-14 is about right.
Hundo, I’m right there with you. Trying to decide on either the Leupold M5 3.6-18 or Nightforce 4-16. Only reason I took the NF 2.5-10 off was be of price compared to the 4-16. I find this zoom range to be preferable. Some say it’s better to have the extra mag and not need it. I gree with that statement on a tactical or competition rifle, but on something I have to hike in with, sometimes miles, I start leaning to the shorter and lighter optics. 14x is more than enough to do double duty for competition and hunting.
My old ERS had superior glass to the HDMR2 I had recently. I must have just gotten a bad one, but I sent it back to Bushnell and they said it was within spec. It was not acceptable for the price point. It was similar to a $300 Primary Arms scope. I'm not a glass snob but one time to when better glass is really beneficial is in a hunting optic. I'd skip the HDMR2.
Dan
Dan
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